7/5/2007 1:46:31 AM From Karze: by Alex Schieferdecker
Tashi Delek from Karze! Our noble leaders are busy with running the trip, and keeping us healthy, so I have been tasked with writing this Yakity Yak.
Our 12 hour bus ride from Kanding to Karze was at times a tedious, but also often a spectacular affair. Whether it was the constant smoking in the back of the bus, to the loud, violent beeping of the horn, something got on almost everyone's nerves at some point. But we perservered, and were rewarded with some of the most striking scenery on the planet. Rolling green hills gave way to tall rocky mountains and stunning vistas as we closed in on Karze. The mountains got taller and taller until we spotted snow. Karze lies under these mountains.
Matjaz describes Karze best; "like the wild west". The majority of the city is mud houses, with the richest citizens able to afford brick. Men walk around with jeans and cowboy hats. Theft is a real problem here, and sometimes it can be a problem for the theives as well, and some people carry knives close at hand. (DOn't worry parents!) Upon arriving in the city, we checked in at a nice guesthouse which had been recomended by previous Tibet groups. We then traveled to the hot springs in the town. The accomidations were nothing the type we would expect to see in the states, but hot springs in Tibet are the same as hot springs in the rest of the world, and provided a wellcome oppertunity to clean up. After the springs and a quick dinner we headed off for a well deserved rest.
The following day (today), we grabbed breakfast, and ambled over to a local Orphan School, similar to the one where we will be heading. There, work had been done which was similar to the work we have planned. We didn't just sit around looking at insulation however... we immeadiately bonded with the children of the orphanage, and when their classes let out we began several games of the universal: Duck Duck Goose. Jack also recieved a crash course in Tibetain with one of the smaller classes. When the classes began again, we left the orphanage and trundled up to the local monastery. We came at the right time. In honor of the birthday of His Holiness (the 7th) the monks of many local monasteries were having a great 10 day festival which includes ceremony and competitions in debating. Many locals had come to watch this battle of wits. It truely is a spectator sport too!
In a debate, one monk will hold a tenent of his monastery and monks from the other monasteries will try to prove it false. After each exchange, the monk who has finished making his point will adamantly slap his hand into his palm. As the debates (and lunch and prayers after) continued, we moseyed around the monastery, and met some monks who told us about the fesatival. HH has said that he doesn't want the different sects of Bhuddism to fight, and in that spirit, the debates we saw today involve members of each different order, something which has hardly ever happened!
We cavorted down from the gompa (monastery in Tibetain) in the afternoon, and after lunch we got free time. That is where things stand right now.
Tomorrow we will take a short (4 hours) bus ride to the Shechen Orphanage School. After our touching experience at the orphanage school today, we can hardly wait to spend a week there. That will mean that there won't be any contact by Yak Yak however. So consider this the last message from our group for a week.
Tsering!
Saturday, July 7, 2007
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